Some woods, such as the cedars, have built-in preservatives that help prevent decay and insects in unprotected logs. However, all woods should be protected with artificial preservatives and stains, even the cedars, because natural preservatives will degenerate over a period of time. Therefore "SAA Logs" uses the best Borate products available in the US market. Borate is a water-soluble inorganic borate salt for the protection and treatment of wood, wood products, and wood-foam composite structural components against decay fungi and wood boring beetles including Powder Post Beetles (Lyctidae), Furniture and Deathwatch Beetles (Anobiidae), and Old House Borers and Longhorn Beetles (Cerambycidae). Armor-Guard performance can be enhanced to treat mold and stain fungi by the addition of an appropriately registered fungicide to the treatment solution.
Armor-Guard also controls Subterranean Termites (Reticulitermes, Heterotermes, Coptotermes), Dampwood Termites (Zootermopsis), Drywood Termites (Kalotermes, Incisitermes), and Carpenter Ants (Camponotus). Borates reputation as a safe and effective defense against wood-destroying organisms is on the rise. Although borates wood protection properties have been known for centuries, it wasn't until the 1950s that treating lumber with borates became a standard practice in some parts of the world. In addition, countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and many European countries increasingly turning to borates to protect their homes. Borates are cost effective and easy to use. Waterborne borate wood preservatives are used in conventional pressure treating plants. Existing plants can be converted to use borates with little or no change to equipment. In some cases, borates are also used in non-pressure treatment systems that rely on the moisture in the wood itself to achieve penetration and loading requirements.
In wood composites, borates are added during the manufacture of oriented strand board (OSB), hardboard, particleboard and other engineered wood products. In treated wood, borates are: colorless and odorless so they maintain the physical appearance of wood products , non-volatile and robust so they don't evaporate or degrade during service , non-corrosive so many of the nails and metal fasteners used with untreated wood can also be used with borate treated wood. Borates work by interfering with the basic metabolic processes in wood destroying organisms, similar to their mode of action in controlling other insects such as ants and silverfish. Because the mode of action is fundamental, borate efficacy is broad spectrum, and target organisms do not develop resistance as they can with conventional pesticides. Boron's functionality is based on its ability to form complexes with various sugar alcohol compounds such as vitamins and co-enzymes. Reaction of borates with co-enzymes containing these molecules has been found to diminish the ability of organisms to process food and energy, causing the target organisms to starve and eventually die. The result: long-lasting wood protection and insect control. The best way to expose target organisms to borates is to treat their food source or immediate environment. Wood-destroying insects such as termites attempt to eat borate-treated wood. This minor grazing allows borates to be transported as part of the termite's food supply back to the colony, and from one termite to another. Insects such as carpenter ants that burrow into lumber but don't use wood as food are also exposed to borates through contact with borate-treated wood. When timber is exposed to moisture, decay fungi can infest and destroy wood. Using borate preservatives puts the wood destroying organism in constant and direct contact with the borates. As with insects, the borates in the treated wood interfere with the metabolic processes of decay fungi.